Manchester City youngster Nico O'Reilly is starring for his country at a World Cup in a position that did not come naturally to him
Marc Guehi of England reacts with Nico O'Reilly
Marc Guehi of England reacts with Nico O'Reilly (Image: 2026 Chris Brunskill/Fantasista)
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It's hard to fit Nico O'Reilly in a box. Both literally, because he is very tall, but also figuratively given he can do so much on a football pitch.
A teenager that had come through the Manchester City academy playing mostly as an attacking midfielder and occasionally as a striker got his big break in the first team at...left-back. Pep Guardiola saw the jaw of his academy coach drop when he told him the news, but it became a revelation that culminated last season in O'Reilly scoring both goals in the Carabao Cup final and winning the Young Player of the Year award.
Oh, and going to the World Cup. He made his debut in the autumn and sat down with the Manchester Evening News afterwards in his first major newspaper interview. After joking about how growth spurts had left him looking like Bambi on Ice in the Under-18s team, O'Reilly had a pretty basic approach to adapting as a left-back.
"The defending side was the bit I had to get used to because I wasn't familiar with it and had to learn it. I feel like it's starting to click together, it's just down to mentality and being strong and fast and putting tackles in," he said. "It's definitely learning on the job.
"I had a lot of help from Josko [Gvardiol], Ruben [Dias] and all these leaders in the team but it's learning on the job because as a midfielder you're not used to going 1vs1 against the best attackers in the league. It's tough and it's a challenge but I'm learning as we go."
By this point, O'Reilly had already got the better of Mo Salah, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and a month later he would be named as the best player at the Bernabeu as City beat Real Madrid. Continuing to defy expectations, he named the hardest player he had come up against as Everton's Iliman N'Diaye.
That may change after Wednesday night when Lionel Messi and Argentina come to town. O'Reilly had just turned one when Messi starred in his first World Cup and it is unlikely that the England international will ever face Messi again, making the World Cup final even more special - and daunting.
City have so far found that nothing has fazed O'Reilly in his early career, and an evening with Messi could help in deciding what to do with the Collyhurst wonderkid going forward. He was planned to be used in midfield last season and has said this summer that he expects to move there at some point given he has the attributes of a No.8.
The reality though is that he also has everything a modern full-back requires and has an uncanny knack of emerging from duels and perilous situations with the ball. It may not be what he intended, but if O'Reilly can get the better of Messi then City my find it is best to keep more defending days ahead of him.